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Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

I wish NBC had shown the Mexican gymnast last night who used the music from The Legend of Zelda during her floor routine. Luckily deadspin linked to a video of it.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Old Pio said:
No disrespect to Michael Phelps, but Sebastian Coe's right. Certainly Phelps is the greatest swimmer in the history of the world. And the most decorated Olympic athlete. He richly deserves and has earned both titles. But greatest Olympic athlete ever? The names of possible contenders for THAT title is mind boggling. How about 2 time decathalon champion Bob Mathias, who won gold when he was 17? Or Al Oerter, four time discus champion? Or Eric Heiden, winner of all five speed skating events at Lake Placid? Or Sonja Heine? Or Pavvo Nurmi? Or Carl Lewis? Or the sainted Jesse Owens? And on and on. Swimmers and gymnasts have an advantage, they have multiple events to contest. Most others compete in only one or perhaps two events. Is Cassius Clay not as great becuse he only won one gold medal?

Michael Phelps is THE towering figure in world and US swimming history. And he is certainly one of a tiny handful of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time. I'm pretty sure he would agree with that, since it is so manifestly true. Putting that question to Lord Coe strikes me as more "gotcha" than anything else.
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first american to metal in 5 straight olympics
 
Old Pio said:
No disrespect to Michael Phelps, but Sebastian Coe's right. Certainly Phelps is the greatest swimmer in the history of the world. And the most decorated Olympic athlete. He richly deserves and has earned both titles. But greatest Olympic athlete ever? The names of possible contenders for THAT title is mind boggling. How about 2 time decathalon champion Bob Mathias, who won gold when he was 17? Or Al Oerter, four time discus champion? Or Eric Heiden, winner of all five speed skating events at Lake Placid? Or Sonja Heine? Or Pavvo Nurmi? Or Carl Lewis? Or the sainted Jesse Owens? And on and on. Swimmers and gymnasts have an advantage, they have multiple events to contest. Most others compete in only one or perhaps two events. Is Cassius Clay not as great becuse he only won one gold medal?

Michael Phelps is THE towering figure in world and US swimming history. And he is certainly one of a tiny handful of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time. I'm pretty sure he would agree with that, since it is so manifestly true. Putting that question to Lord Coe strikes me as more "gotcha" than anything else.
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Yes, swimmers have more opportunities for medals but how many swimmers have as many medals as Phelps? I believe I read that if you just count his gold medals, he still has more than second place for all colors of medals. I'm not saying he is best ever because that is such a difficult conversation. It is so hard to compare 2012 to even 2000 with how athletes have evolved. I would say he is probably top 3 though.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

cF[Authentic] said:
Yes, swimmers have more opportunities for medals but how many swimmers have as many medals as Phelps? I believe I read that if you just count his gold medals, he still has more than second place for all colors of medals. I'm not saying he is best ever because that is such a difficult conversation. It is so hard to compare 2012 to even 2000 with how athletes have evolved. I would say he is probably top 3 though.
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I said he was the greatest swimmer in the history of the world. IMO that doesn't leave much room for ambiguity. And if he is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, that would include swimming, wouldn't it? His total haul as well as his gold medal haul is astonishing. There are no limits to my respect and admiration for what he's accomplished.

He may be "the greatest Olympian of all." There are no objective criteria. And as I mentioned, total medal counts are important but not determinative. As I say, he's among a tiny handful of Olympic giants. And he has as much claim to the title of the best of all time as any of them.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

sweet canadian mullet said:
first american to metal in 5 straight olympics
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A terrific accomplishment, bravo. But you're not suggesting those laudable accomplishments put her in contention for the greatest Olmpian or the greatest American Olympian, are you? She is not exactly in the same ball park with being a world class swimmer or sprinter, now is she? Carl Lewis won 4 straight long jump golds, much tougher and certainly indicative of infinitely greater athletic talent.

There is no derogation of her accomplishments, just a realization that she's not quite the same type of Olympic "athlete" as the ladies of the "Fab 5." If the point here is that she deserves greater recognition for her achievements, we agree.
 
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Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Old Pio said:
I said he was the greatest swimmer in the history of the world. IMO that doesn't leave much room for ambiguity. And if he is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, that would include swimming, wouldn't it? His total haul as well as his gold medal haul is astonishing. There are no limits to my respect and admiration for what he's accomplished.

He may be "the greatest Olympian of all." There are no objective criteria. And as I mentioned, total medal counts are important but not determinative. As I say, he's among a tiny handful of Olympic giants. And he has as much claim to the title of the best of all time as any of them.
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"The greatest Olympian of all" is a dumb discussion, except for hype vendors and folks who like to argue for the sake of arguement. NBC is in the first category.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Bode Miller > Michael Phelps....

Also of note Beer > Pot :p
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Why are the Russian hoops coaches wearing blue jeans? Must be a relaxed dress code.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Old Pio said:
J. C. Killy? Toni Sailor? Franz Klammer? Bill Johnson?
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None of them have Bode's "Pazazz" :p

Although JC is definately an interesting case none the less... But he's French, so that's negative eleventy points...
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

MountieBoyOz said:
Why are the Russian hoops coaches wearing blue jeans? Must be a relaxed dress code.
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I had the game on in the background and heard the head coach speaking English. Didn't realize he's Jewish/American Dave Blatt, who played at Princeton. Apparently he had to "walk back" some comments that have the Brits thinking he's a bit of a wanker! :rolleyes:
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

JF_Gophers said:
Why would men want to play field hockey? It's a woman's sport, just like kitchen cleaning.
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Considering that after soccer, field hockey is the second largest team sport for men in the world... Or so I've heard.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

dxmnkd316 said:
Considering that after soccer, field hockey is the second largest team sport for men in the world... Or so I've heard.
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There are so many ways to measure that though. Its certainly not the second most lucrative sport in the world. I think both field hockey and cricket benefit from being popular on the sub-continent and just the sheer mass of people Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India contain. China doesn't really seem to have a dominant team sport so there isn't much boost from the other global demographic behemoth.

Other than soccer, virtually every other team sport is regionally popular. Ice Hockey, Field Hockey, Rugby, Baseball, Basketball, Handball, and Cricket all seem to be quite popular among 10 or so countries and fringe sports in the rest of the world.
 
Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

RaceBoarder said:
None of them have Bode's "Pazazz" :p

Although JC is definately an interesting case none the less... But he's French, so that's negative eleventy points...
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I dunno, Bill Johnson's pretty cool. His strength in the downhill was turning, while Klammer's was just bulling down the mountain on the ice, and let's see if I survive this. Reportedly in the days leading up to winning the downhill at Sarajevo, every time Johnson saw Klammer he'd say: "Looks like snow, Franz." Pretty cool.
 
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